Chavarria-chairez, Becky. Magda’s Piñata Magic/ Magda y la Piñata Magica.Houston. Piñata Books, 2001. 28 pages. Ages 7-12. Genre: Picture Story Book Realistic Fiction. Language: English and Spanish
This colorful picture story book was a nice story of a piñata. It was a Gabriel’s birthday so his uncle bought him a piñata that looked just like him. Everyone loved the piñata and could not wait to break it, all except Gabriel who was the birthday boy. He loved it but he said it was too beautiful to break and hit. He was very disappointed and did not want to participate in his birthday. Magda, his sister, brainstormed a solution to the problem. She taught of different ideas but none of them seemed safe or quick enough to come up in one night. She finally thought of the perfect plan. She made secret holes on the piñata and when it was hanging it would suddenly send out candy. At the end, even the cat received treats from the piñata. Everyone had a great time and Magda saved the party and the piñata. This is a good story for solving problems and siblings helping each other out. I thought the story line was very slow paced, but I guess it would be appropriate for children. The story was also a little difficult to understand the plot. At the end the solution to the piñata was not clear. I confused because I thought that Magda had made a new piñata and I did not understand what the magic in the piñata was. I had to read the ending again to understand how Magda had fixed the piñata. Finally, I don’t know if children would have liked the idea of not being able to break the piñata because all the fun comes from hitting it.
Anzaldua, Gloria. Friends from the Other Side/Amigosdel Otro Lado. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press, 1993. 28 pages. Ages 8-12. Genre: Picture Story Book Realistic Fiction. Language: English and Spanish
This story beautifully illustrated and colored with color pencils. It had a wonderful story line and theme of early immigration. The story is about a boy, Joaquin, and a girl, Prietita. They live in the boarder of the US and Mexico. Joaquin has immigrated to the US and has to work carrying wood. Prietita talks to him and notices the llagas in his skin. They become friends and she ends up defending him from other boys who don’t like him. They play together and talk. One day as they are playing la migra comes and she helps him and his mother hide. Finally, the migra goes away and with the help of la cuarandera they clean his llagas and help the mother find employment. I enjoyed this story because it touched on realistic events of immigrants. The not finding stable employment and being ridiculed by immigrants themselves is common. Also there is someone who always helps you out to get on your feet. I found the illustrations beautiful and very realistic. I also liked the reality of the culture; playing loteria, swinging outside in a tree, raising animals, finally having a curandera. The reality of running away from la migra might be vague for some children but not others because they can learn what la migra does. A lot of topics can be discussed with children when reading this story.
Lopez, Loretta. Que Sorpresa de Cumpleaños.New York: Lee & Low Books Inc, 1997. 30 pages. Ages 7-11. Genre: Picture Story book, Realistic Fiction. Language: Spanish
This was a vivid story of a Lori, a little girl, who was thinking of a perfect gift for her sister, Cuqui’s, birthday party. The stories begin with a planning of her birthday party and Cuqui thinking of various things to get her but nothing seemed perfect for her adolescent sister. She thought of a piñata, a puppy, and even souvenir items. Nothing seemed special enough for her birthday. The day of her sister’s birthday after attending church the family goes to Uncle Daniels house where there Lori realizes that the birthday party was really for her and not her sister. She was very surprised and asked the sister why. The sister told her that she is too big for birthday parties and since her birthday was in the winter and she didn’t have summer birthday she would enjoy one better. She ends up having lots of fun and even receives a puppy for her birthday. I really enjoyed reading thisbook. I was even surprised when I saw that the birthday was for Lori and not Cuqui. I thought that at the end she would of found a perfect gift but she did not. The pictures and story line where also very culturally releventant. I really liked how the words had a boarder of pictures relating to the story and the culture. There were picture of piñatas, maracas, sombreros, jarros, Mercado, guacamole, frijoles, taquitos and church saints. The party picture looked like a party I would have with my family. It was a nice idea to change birthdays so the little sister can enjoy having a birthday party in the summer. It was evident that the family was very united and loving. I think children can really enjoy changing their birthdays if they have birthday in the winter and can’t have an outdoor party.
Kimmel, Eric A. Anansi and the Magic Stick.New York: Holiday House, Inc., 2001. 32 pages. Ages 5-8. Genre: Folktale. Language: English
All the animals were working in their garden all except Anansi, who was sleeping. The animals laughed at Anansi and called him lazy. He walked away and stopped by hyena’s house who was sleeping in his hammock. Anansi thought, “no one sees hyena working, but his house is always so beautiful and his garden full of plants.” Anansi wanted to discover his secret so he stood back and hid from Hyena who then he realized had a talking stick that did all his work. Anansi stole the stick and had the stick do lots of work in his house and garden. When Anansi was went to sleep and left the stick watering the plants, he woke up afloat on top a tomato. The watering had made a massive river and the animals were in the water. Hyena got his stick back and Anansi continued to plan new tricks. All of the Anansi stories are wonderful. This one was particular interesting because it touches on the team of hard work paying off and laziness only causing trouble. The illustrations of this story were beautiful and depicted the story well. The idea of having a magic stick to do all the work seems fabulous and I think students will enjoy coming up with things they will do if they had a magic stick. Children can also write recipes of the food they would make with the giant vegetables. Overall, it is a beautiful story for children and adults because it had great humor.
Ada, Alma Flor. Me llamo Maria Isabel. New York: Aladdin Paperback, 1993. 60 pages. Ages 10-15. Genre: Realistic Fiction, Chapter Book.
A magnificent story of a little girl named Maria Isabel Salazar Lopez who came to a class where there were other Marias, so the teacher decided to call her Mary Lopez. She could not identify with Mary because she felt very strong about her name because it was given to her in memory of her grandmother. She wanted to tell the teacher to call her by her real name but she was scared. She felt that loosing her name was loosing the most important part of herself. Due to the name change she missed out on participating in the school play. Finally everything was resolved at the end of the story and she performed a song in the play. This short chapter book is wonderful for any classroom because there is always at least one student that can identify himself/herself with Maria Isabel. I know by personal experience that my name always gets miss pronounced and that makes me very angry and sad. I love my name it is very unique and had a lot of meaning but I always think of how both my first and last name are difficult to pronounce. I would never change it, but would like people to actually make some effort in pronouncing it correctly. Many times the pronunciation is nowhere near being correct and that makes me very aggravated. I have thought of how great it would be to have a simple name that everyone can pronounce but I would never change it. I know that in corporate American that can be a problem but just like in the story I could never see myself having a different name.
Carson Levine, Gail. Ella Enchanted. New York: Scholastic Inc, 1997. 232 pages. Ages 10-16. Genre: Fairy Tale (Fiction). Language: English
This is a lovely story taken from the original story of Cinderella but changes in many ways.It begins with a girl named Elenor or Ella who was cursed to obey all order given by anyone. This causes many problems in her life especially when Hattie her later step sister discovers that she is cursed and takes advantage of the curse. She tries to get rid of the curse by asking the fairy that cursed her to take it back, she refuses. She has many adventures due to being enchanted. She falls in love with prince Char, who she wants to marry but can’t because if she agrees to marry him they will ask her to kill him. After going to three of his balls in disguise she is discovered by her step sister and runs away leaving behind a class slipper. Finally, Prince Char confronts her and she refuses to marry him breaking the curse and making her decision to marry him. This book has won the Newberry Honor Award in 1998, which is presented annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year. This is a fantastic remaking of Cinderella. I really liked how the curse changed her life and made have many adventures for it. Thinking about it from a real life situation it would be nice if all children had that curse but of course that they could only obey the good orders, wouldn’t that make a wonderful place with smart children and little problems. I think many students will enjoy making different stories of their own using the fairy tales that would be very creative to see. Also the students can pretend that they have the same curse as Ella imagine how great and fun that would be. Watching the movie can be a good culminating activity for the students to compare the movie to the story.
Teague, Mark. Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters fromObedienceSchool. New York: Scholastic Inc, 2002. 36 pages. Ages 7-11. Genre: Picture Story Book. Language: English
This was a cute book of a dog named Ike who did not behave so his owner sent him to obedience school and from there he sent letters to her. In his letters he told her of how miserable he was there. Finally, he escaped obedience school and came to his owner to safe her life when she was crossing the street. This book won the Christopher award which is an award that encourages men, women and children to pursue excellence in creative areas that have the potential to influence a mass audience positively. Award winners encourage audiences to see the better side of human nature and motivate artists and the general public to use their best instincts on behalf of others. Christopher Awards are presented directly to writers, producers, directors and illustrators in the publishing, film, and broadcast TV and cable industries. I liked the book because it reminded me of Alma Flor Ada’s retelling using a different genre because the students are not retelling but reading a story that is written in a different genre. I think students can obtain a different view from the stories when they read letters and it makes it more creative seeing the point of view of the character. Even though the story was not as interesting for me, I still think students will enjoy reading the letters and making their own letters from the perspective of any of their pets of things around them.
Silverstein, Shel. A Light in the Attic. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1981. 168 pages. Ages 10-15. Genre: Poetry book. Language: English.
This book contains many interesting poems and illustrations that go with the poems. The collection of poems was very nice and the poems were funny and creative. I liked many of them specially the one titled Friendship “I’ve discovered a way to stay friends forever--- There’s really nothing to it. I simply tell you what to do And you do it!” The poems are composed of odd, life, and school topics. Many of them are simple for school age students. Shel has written 12 books and is famous for his poems and pictures. What I thought was very creative are his titles. When I first looked at the book I thought what a strange title and after giving it some thought I realized what it really meant. I wondered why would be name it that if it has nothing to do with his poem. Now, I understand that the light in the attic means an idea in the brain. Mr. Silverstein also has a very creative website with animations and sounds relating to his poems. There are many ideas and inspiring topics in the website.
Ada, Alma Flor & Campoy, Isabel. Vuelo Del Quetzal. Miami: Santilla USA Publishing Company, 2002. 48 pages. Ages 7-12. Genre: Picture/ Poetry book. Language: Spanish.
This colorful book in Spanish was marvelous. There were many beautiful pictures of the story of Latin and South America. In each page there was a short passage in each page that described the picture of the various spects, animals, cultures, and traditions of Hispanoamerica. The last few pages illustrated a busy city and a small town in Latin American and the words. “Tierra de graders contrastes. Pueblos pequeños y tranquilos. Cuidades enomes y bulliciosas.” The very last page has an accordion book/collection of images from all over Latin America with the words “ Gente de todo tipo. Muchos logros. Y mucho por conseguir.” This was a lovely book. I really like how Alma Flor Ada and Isabel Campoy put beautiful images and words to the culture of Latinos. They also include every country and aspect of the scenery. I specially liked the last page that stated that they still have much to conquer. I agree with the statement because there is so much more Latinos need to discover and obtain. I also enjoyed how most of the book deals with nature and environments those animals in Latin America live and the names of these animals labeled. This book can be used when studying animal habitats.
Collier, Bryan. Uptown.New York: Henry Hold and Company LLC. 2000. 25 pages. Ages 4-8. Genre: Picture Book. Language: English.
This dual award winning book is a town of sights of Harlem. The book takes one through the Metro-North train, brownstones, shopping in 125 Street, summer basketball, Apollo Theater, barbershop, Boy Choir, and finally the sunset over the Hudson River. The books contains little words but many beautiful pictures made by water color ad collage. This book won the Ezca Jack Keats Book Award which recognizes and encourages authors and illustrators new to the field of children's books. The second award won was the Coretta Scott King Award which is given to recognize and encourage authors and illustrators new to the field of children's books. The books that have won promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream.Bryan Collier has written many books about civil rights and African American events in history. His books are always colorful collages that everyone enjoys its artistic manner. The book did not have any engaging characters only good locations of Harlem. I was not sure maybe because I have never been to Harlem but is being uptown like the down town for us? I was not sure. The little boy was very cute but it makes me wonder because children should not be around town alone uptown or downtown. I found it interesting when the character made a comparison to the houses that looked like chocolate. In the classroom students can make their own books using sceneries of their town or city and they can add their picture to them as if they were the ones in the locations like the student.
Rathmann, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria. New York: G. P. Putman’s Sons, 1995. 30 pages. Ages 5-8. Genre: Picture Story book. Language: English
This book is a cute story about safety and friendship. The story is about a safety officer who made up new safety rules and presented them to students but no one listened to him. One day the police station bought a dog named Gloria. Officer Buckle and Gloria gave a presentation at a school; there Gloria performed tricks that went with the safety tip. Officer Buckle and Gloria were on TV that was when officer Buckle realized that no one was paying attention to him so he decided not to participate anymore. Gloria went to the school but was unsuccessful just then the school had a huge accident and letters were written to officer Buckle to return to the school. He did and finally added another rule to “ALWAYS STICK WITH YOUR BUDDY”. The author Peggy Rathmann, was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and grew up in the suburbs. She has two brothers and two sisters. She took a class in art and began to draw from there she created her books from her imagination and personal experiences. I really liked the book because the illustrations were beautiful. The book also talked about two different subjects friendship and safety. Many ideas can come out of the book. Students can write their own rules in post it notes and number them just like in the story. The book also won the Caldecott Award in 1996, this was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. Peggy Rathmann certainly deserved the award because the illustrations were magnificent. Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 27, 2008
Flor, Ada Alma. Extra Extra: Fairy- Tale News from HiddenForest. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007. 28 pages. Ages 6-10. Picture Story Book. Language English
This book was a very creative story using fairy tale characters, events and a news paper publication. The book tells the story of Jack and the Giant Beanstalk from the point of view of many fairy tale characters that are part of the magical hidden forest community. In the articles of the newspaper the characters give their opinion on the beanstalk and if it should be chopped down or left alone. There are many elements of fairly tales and creativity in the names and made believe articles. Alma Flor Ada has a vivid imagination for creating a wonderful story that is like a newspaper of a fairy tale land. According to the book this story was created from her imagination when she used to have imaginary conversations with storybook characters. She also has three other books of the HiddenForest. I really liked the story line and how it was such a creative idea to make a newspaper of events in fairy tales. This book is excellent because it addresses creative writing and the theme of community. The book did remind me of many other fairy tale books because their characters were in the newspaper stories. I think that students will enjoy reading the story and also creating their own newspaper stories using another fairy tale. This book can be the culminating activity of a fairy tale unit because students can then make their own newspaper stories using the characters they learned in other stories. They can also look at the local newspaper as a model for their own. Overall, it was an excellent book with a great story line. Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 27, 2008
Perez, Amada Irma. My Very Own Room. San Francisco. Children’s Book Press, 2000. 31 pages. Ages 7-12. Genre: Picture Story book (Realistic Fiction) Language: English and Spanish.
This colorful story presents a little girl who wanted her own room. With five brothers and two parents and many visiting relatives living in a two bedroom house it was almost impossible for her to get her own room. The mother finally brainstorms that maybe she can take the room that they used for storage and get her a room of her own. The entire family helped to put the room together and finally she had her room. This book has won the Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. This award honor authors and illustrators who create literature that portrays the Mexican American experience. The award was established in 1995 and was named in honor of Dr. Tomas Rivera, a distinguished graduate from TexasStateUniversity. I liked that the book depicts the experience of many immigrant families who sleep in small homes and with many people and many times it is not possible for someone to have their own room because helping out the family is more important. I also liked how the family helped each other to get the room. I think children will enjoy this book because they can relate to the experience that they might have had. Also many students don’t have their own room and they might find possibilities for a room of their own or realize that other children are in the same situation. Even though, the story was truthful I think as a teacher I think that children might feel sadder that they don’t have their own room and that in their house it is impossible to have a room of their own. Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 29, 2008
Ada, Alma Flor. Friend Frog.San Diego: Gulliver Books, 2000. 20 pages. Ages 6-10. Genre: Picture Story Book. Language: English.
This book is about a mouse that searches for a friend. He finds and rock and grass but they cannot be his friends because they don’t talk to him. He wants a friend so he can tell him his survival stories. He finally finds frog. Frog has a great croak but that is all he does until one day when the Falcon was going to eat frog and the mouse warned him. He decided to be a good listening friend and listen to mouse’s stories. Alma Flor Ada was written numerous books both in English and Spanish. Her books are always colorful and fun for students to read. She has also won many awards with her books. One day as a child, in Cuba, she saw a frog and was in love with frogs since. I liked how the book was very colorful and easy to read for emerging readers. I did not like the story line maybe for children it would be good but I thought it was too simple of a problem and did not keep me interested. The illustrations were very nice and depicted the nature of the areas where frog and mouse live in a very colorful, bright way. I think students can possibly relate to mouse because he needed a friend and some students might be like mouse looking for a friend to listen to them. Overall, I would not recommend this book as a must have because there are better books out there that deal with survival and friendship. Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 29, 2008
Ada, Alma Flor. The Lizard and the Sun.New York: Dragon Fly Books, 1997. 40 pages.Ages 8-13. Genre: Picture Story Book (Folktale) Language: English and Spanish.
This is a beautiful folktale about why the lizards like to be by the sunny hot rocks. The story goes that the sun was not coming out so the animals and people started to look for the sun. They looked every where and began to gave up. The lizard on the other hand did not give up. He finally found a bright rock and the emperor and woodpecker helped him reveal it and it was the sun. The sun was so sleepy and did not wake up. Finally, the emperor decided to have the dancers and musicians entertain the sun. The sun woke up and went up to the sky. From this day on, the lizards always stand on the hot rocks because they remember the lizard finding the sun. This was a wonderful story that had amazing illustrations and depicted the life of the Aztecs. I really liked how the story addresses the importance of the sun and what we would do without it. I read this story to a group of first graders and they liked it but it was a little lengthily for them. After a while they were not interested and seemed to not be paying attention. On the other hand, they liked thinking about what would happen if we did not have the sun. We discussed how the sun is so important to us because it keeps us warm, feeds the plants and animals, and provides us with light. I recommend this book for any library.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 31, 2008
Bertrand Gonzales, Diana. Uncle Chente’s Picnic: El Picnic de Tio Chente.Houston: Piñata Books, 2001. 28 pages. Ages 8-12. Genre: Picture Story Book (Realistic Fiction) Language: Spanish and English
This book is gorgeous story about an uncle who is a trucker and visits his sister niece and nephews. They plan a picnic for his visit and to celebrate forth of July. While beginning to cook it begins to rain. They go inside the house to continue the party just then they hear a big noise. It just so happens that the electrical converter was struck by lighting. The power goes out but this does not stop them from having fun. They end up enjoying the day, watching the sparks or the converter and playing games. This story is also a Piñata Book. The Piñata Award was founded in 1994, Piñata Books, an imprint of Arte Público Press, is devoted to the publication of children's and young adult literature focusing on U.S. Hispanic culture. The idea is that the books are like the treats for children that come out of a Piñata, because the books are delightful. I loved the pictures in this story they were so different and colorful. I liked the story of a family getting together to celebrate the holiday. I also liked how the family made the best out of the situation. I read this story to a group of 1st grade students and they were getting a little distracted because the story was long and their attention span is short. On the other hand they liked discussing what appliances they would not be able to use if they lost power. We discussed the importance of electricity and how dependent we are to it. The student then made a list of appliances that require electricity because in the time of a black out they would not be able to use them. Overall, it was a simple story with a happy ending that students can enjoy because it is in Spanish and English and with a wonderful theme or family. Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 31, 2008
Krull, Kathleen. Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez. New York: Scholastic Inc. 2003. 40 pages. Ages 7-12. Genre: Picture Story Book (Biography). Language: English
The Pura Belpre Honor book winner was a lovely story of Cesar Chavez and his fight for justice of migrant workers. The story begins in his childhood when he lived in Arizona and had to move to California because of the drought. From there he began to see the struggles of farm workers because he himself was one. He began to organize with many other migrant workers peaceful marches. Little by little more people were interested in his cause and supported it. He was successful after much fighting and marching to the Capital. This book certainly deserves that Pura Belpre Award was started in 1996, and it is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. In her job as a librarian, storyteller, and author, she enriched the lives of Puerto Rican children in the U.S.A. through her ground-breaking work of preserving and disseminating Puerto Rican folklore. I really enjoyed reading this charming story. It is a wonderful story of someone who stood up for human rights. Cesar Chavez is like the Martin Luther King of migrant workers. Stories like this can inspire children to stand for the right things and to also do it in a peacefully organized manner. The book also illustrates the hardships of migrant workers and of Cesar Chavez. I think students can realize that there is always a struggle but the reward is worth while. In showing the hardships students can see how grateful one can be for the fruits and vegetables in our grocery store because someone worked very hard in the blistering sun to get them to our home. This book is a must have book for any teacher and any grade level.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 31, 2008
Ryan Muñoz, Pam.HelloOcean. New York. Scholastic Inc, 2003. 20 pages. Ages 5-9. Genre: Picture book (Realistic Fiction). Language: Spanish and English.
The book has magnificent pictures of a little girl going to the ocean. The books states that the little girls loves the ocean because she can play, swim, see and the waves, taste the salty water, make sand castles, and overall have a wonderful time by the ocean. The author Pam Munoz Ryan has written over twenty-five books for young children, including Esperanza Rising and Riding Freedom. Pam Muñoz Ryan was born and raised in California's San JoaquinValley. As a child she loved going to the library in her bike it was her favorite past time. When she graduated from college she was not sure of what she wanted to do so she became a teacher and then an administrator. Later, with the encouragement of her friend who thought she could write, began her first book and she has been writing since. The illustrations on this book are excellent; the scenes of the oceans make you feel as if you were there. The words are also simple for emergent readers. If students have never been to the ocean they can get a good sense of what it is like by reading this book, I think children can relate to enjoying a any body of water even a pool because these are usually associated with good times. The Spanish and English make it a two for one special for any school. Many classroom activities can come from reading this book like writing about going to the beach, vacation, pool, etc. and what events take place there. Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes June 1, 2008
Marshall, James. Jorge Y Marta. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1972. 46 pages. Ages 6-11. Genre: Fantasy. Language: Spanish
This book contains five stories about two hippos who are good friends Jorge y Marta. Each story is about each of them playing trick on each other or getting in trouble. In the first story Jorge does not like Marta’s Chicaron soup so he throws it on the floor Martha sees and confronts him. Finally they agree that she will not make any more soup. In the second story Jorge wants to fly in a hot air balloon but he is too heavy so he gets out and the balloon flies without him. Another story goes that Marta loved looking at herself in the mirror, she always looked at herself until one day Jorge placed an ugly picture of her in the mirror, she got scared and agreed not to look in the mirror again. The last story if of Jorge loosing his favorite tooth and getting it replace by a gold tooth. The book was funny because I had never read a story about two hippos. The hippos have human characteristics and their adventures are amusing. The story is very old and I don’t know if it would be appealing to students nowadays. The pictures are also not as interesting as the pictures before. I think students can do an interesting activity where they can make their own silly adventure of Marta and Jorge. Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes June 2, 2008
Dorros, Arthur. This is My House. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1992. 37 pages. Ages. 6-12 Genre: Picture Book (non-fiction) Language; English with a variety of phrases in other languages.
This was a very informative pictures provided a variety of houses and their information. The book began stating that people make houses out of many things and then it continued to the history of houses. How at first caves and houses made of wool and bones were used for shelter. The story then travels the world presenting various houses a little information about the type of house and why it is used like that. In each page there is a phrase in that countries language that states “This is my house.” The author and illustrator of this book Arthur Dorros grew up in Florida. In his website he has funny pictures of himself. In one he is eating paper where he says he first at some of his books. He also states that he gets his ideas because he remembers listening to his father’s fictional stories when he was little. Some of his other publications are: Tonight is Carnival, Abuela, Isla, Rainforest Secrets, Magic Secrets, Julio’s Secret, Numero Uno, Alligator Shoes and many more, It was very interesting to see the different types of houses around the world.I really liked how the climate and the resources really shape these houses. Houses that are made of mud and straw are done this way to maintain cool. Other houses are also set up according to the space provided in the community. I think students will enjoy this book because it has beautiful illustrations and shows places around the world. I also like the ending where he states that there are many different homes but homes are the people that live in the house make the home. Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes June 2, 2008
This colorful picture story book was a nice story of a piñata. It was a Gabriel’s birthday so his uncle bought him a piñata that looked just like him. Everyone loved the piñata and could not wait to break it, all except Gabriel who was the birthday boy. He loved it but he said it was too beautiful to break and hit. He was very disappointed and did not want to participate in his birthday. Magda, his sister, brainstormed a solution to the problem. She taught of different ideas but none of them seemed safe or quick enough to come up in one night. She finally thought of the perfect plan. She made secret holes on the piñata and when it was hanging it would suddenly send out candy. At the end, even the cat received treats from the piñata. Everyone had a great time and Magda saved the party and the piñata.
This is a good story for solving problems and siblings helping each other out. I thought the story line was very slow paced, but I guess it would be appropriate for children. The story was also a little difficult to understand the plot. At the end the solution to the piñata was not clear. I confused because I thought that Magda had made a new piñata and I did not understand what the magic in the piñata was. I had to read the ending again to understand how Magda had fixed the piñata. Finally, I don’t know if children would have liked the idea of not being able to break the piñata because all the fun comes from hitting it.
I enjoyed this story because it touched on realistic events of immigrants. The not finding stable employment and being ridiculed by immigrants themselves is common. Also there is someone who always helps you out to get on your feet. I found the illustrations beautiful and very realistic. I also liked the reality of the culture; playing loteria, swinging outside in a tree, raising animals, finally having a curandera. The reality of running away from la migra might be vague for some children but not others because they can learn what la migra does. A lot of topics can be discussed with children when reading this story.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I was even surprised when I saw that the birthday was for Lori and not Cuqui. I thought that at the end she would of found a perfect gift but she did not. The pictures and story line where also very culturally releventant. I really liked how the words had a boarder of pictures relating to the story and the culture. There were picture of piñatas, maracas, sombreros, jarros, Mercado, guacamole, frijoles, taquitos and church saints. The party picture looked like a party I would have with my family. It was a nice idea to change birthdays so the little sister can enjoy having a birthday party in the summer. It was evident that the family was very united and loving. I think children can really enjoy changing their birthdays if they have birthday in the winter and can’t have an outdoor party.
All the animals were working in their garden all except Anansi, who was sleeping. The animals laughed at Anansi and called him lazy. He walked away and stopped by hyena’s house who was sleeping in his hammock. Anansi thought, “no one sees hyena working, but his house is always so beautiful and his garden full of plants.” Anansi wanted to discover his secret so he stood back and hid from Hyena who then he realized had a talking stick that did all his work. Anansi stole the stick and had the stick do lots of work in his house and garden. When Anansi was went to sleep and left the stick watering the plants, he woke up afloat on top a tomato. The watering had made a massive river and the animals were in the water. Hyena got his stick back and Anansi continued to plan new tricks.
All of the Anansi stories are wonderful. This one was particular interesting because it touches on the team of hard work paying off and laziness only causing trouble. The illustrations of this story were beautiful and depicted the story well. The idea of having a magic stick to do all the work seems fabulous and I think students will enjoy coming up with things they will do if they had a magic stick. Children can also write recipes of the food they would make with the giant vegetables. Overall, it is a beautiful story for children and adults because it had great humor.
A magnificent story of a little girl named Maria Isabel Salazar Lopez who came to a class where there were other Marias, so the teacher decided to call her Mary Lopez. She could not identify with Mary because she felt very strong about her name because it was given to her in memory of her grandmother. She wanted to tell the teacher to call her by her real name but she was scared. She felt that loosing her name was loosing the most important part of herself. Due to the name change she missed out on participating in the school play. Finally everything was resolved at the end of the story and she performed a song in the play.
This short chapter book is wonderful for any classroom because there is always at least one student that can identify himself/herself with Maria Isabel. I know by personal experience that my name always gets miss pronounced and that makes me very angry and sad. I love my name it is very unique and had a lot of meaning but I always think of how both my first and last name are difficult to pronounce. I would never change it, but would like people to actually make some effort in pronouncing it correctly. Many times the pronunciation is nowhere near being correct and that makes me very aggravated. I have thought of how great it would be to have a simple name that everyone can pronounce but I would never change it. I know that in corporate American that can be a problem but just like in the story I could never see myself having a different name.
This is a lovely story taken from the original story of Cinderella but changes in many ways. It begins with a girl named Elenor or Ella who was cursed to obey all order given by anyone. This causes many problems in her life especially when Hattie her later step sister discovers that she is cursed and takes advantage of the curse. She tries to get rid of the curse by asking the fairy that cursed her to take it back, she refuses. She has many adventures due to being enchanted. She falls in love with prince Char, who she wants to marry but can’t because if she agrees to marry him they will ask her to kill him. After going to three of his balls in disguise she is discovered by her step sister and runs away leaving behind a class slipper. Finally, Prince Char confronts her and she refuses to marry him breaking the curse and making her decision to marry him. This book has won the Newberry Honor Award in 1998, which is presented annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year.
This is a fantastic remaking of Cinderella. I really liked how the curse changed her life and made have many adventures for it. Thinking about it from a real life situation it would be nice if all children had that curse but of course that they could only obey the good orders, wouldn’t that make a wonderful place with smart children and little problems. I think many students will enjoy making different stories of their own using the fairy tales that would be very creative to see. Also the students can pretend that they have the same curse as Ella imagine how great and fun that would be. Watching the movie can be a good culminating activity for the students to compare the movie to the story.
This was a cute book of a dog named Ike who did not behave so his owner sent him to obedience school and from there he sent letters to her. In his letters he told her of how miserable he was there. Finally, he escaped obedience school and came to his owner to safe her life when she was crossing the street. This book won the Christopher award which is an award that encourages men, women and children to pursue excellence in creative areas that have the potential to influence a mass audience positively. Award winners encourage audiences to see the better side of human nature and motivate artists and the general public to use their best instincts on behalf of others. Christopher Awards are presented directly to writers, producers, directors and illustrators in the publishing, film, and broadcast TV and cable industries.
I liked the book because it reminded me of Alma Flor Ada’s retelling using a different genre because the students are not retelling but reading a story that is written in a different genre. I think students can obtain a different view from the stories when they read letters and it makes it more creative seeing the point of view of the character. Even though the story was not as interesting for me, I still think students will enjoy reading the letters and making their own letters from the perspective of any of their pets of things around them.
This book contains many interesting poems and illustrations that go with the poems. The collection of poems was very nice and the poems were funny and creative. I liked many of them specially the one titled Friendship
“I’ve discovered a way to stay friends forever---
There’s really nothing to it.
I simply tell you what to do
And you do it!”
The poems are composed of odd, life, and school topics. Many of them are simple for school age students. Shel has written 12 books and is famous for his poems and pictures.
What I thought was very creative are his titles. When I first looked at the book I thought what a strange title and after giving it some thought I realized what it really meant. I wondered why would be name it that if it has nothing to do with his poem. Now, I understand that the light in the attic means an idea in the brain. Mr. Silverstein also has a very creative website with animations and sounds relating to his poems. There are many ideas and inspiring topics in the website.
“Tierra de graders contrastes.
Pueblos pequeños y tranquilos.
Cuidades enomes y bulliciosas.”
The very last page has an accordion book/collection of images from all over Latin America with the words “ Gente de todo tipo. Muchos logros. Y mucho por conseguir.”
This was a lovely book. I really like how Alma Flor Ada and Isabel Campoy put beautiful images and words to the culture of Latinos. They also include every country and aspect of the scenery. I specially liked the last page that stated that they still have much to conquer. I agree with the statement because there is so much more Latinos need to discover and obtain. I also enjoyed how most of the book deals with nature and environments those animals in Latin America live and the names of these animals labeled. This book can be used when studying animal habitats.
This dual award winning book is a town of sights of Harlem. The book takes one through the Metro-North train, brownstones, shopping in 125 Street, summer basketball, Apollo Theater, barbershop, Boy Choir, and finally the sunset over the Hudson River. The books contains little words but many beautiful pictures made by water color ad collage. This book won the Ezca Jack Keats Book Award which recognizes and encourages authors and illustrators new to the field of children's books. The second award won was the Coretta Scott King Award which is given to recognize and encourage authors and illustrators new to the field of children's books. The books that have won promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream. Bryan Collier has written many books about civil rights and African American events in history. His books are always colorful collages that everyone enjoys its artistic manner.
The book did not have any engaging characters only good locations of Harlem. I was not sure maybe because I have never been to Harlem but is being uptown like the down town for us? I was not sure. The little boy was very cute but it makes me wonder because children should not be around town alone uptown or downtown. I found it interesting when the character made a comparison to the houses that looked like chocolate. In the classroom students can make their own books using sceneries of their town or city and they can add their picture to them as if they were the ones in the locations like the student.
I really liked the book because the illustrations were beautiful. The book also talked about two different subjects friendship and safety. Many ideas can come out of the book. Students can write their own rules in post it notes and number them just like in the story. The book also won the Caldecott Award in 1996, this was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. Peggy Rathmann certainly deserved the award because the illustrations were magnificent.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 27, 2008
I really liked the story line and how it was such a creative idea to make a newspaper of events in fairy tales. This book is excellent because it addresses creative writing and the theme of community. The book did remind me of many other fairy tale books because their characters were in the newspaper stories. I think that students will enjoy reading the story and also creating their own newspaper stories using another fairy tale. This book can be the culminating activity of a fairy tale unit because students can then make their own newspaper stories using the characters they learned in other stories. They can also look at the local newspaper as a model for their own. Overall, it was an excellent book with a great story line.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 27, 2008
This colorful story presents a little girl who wanted her own room. With five brothers and two parents and many visiting relatives living in a two bedroom house it was almost impossible for her to get her own room. The mother finally brainstorms that maybe she can take the room that they used for storage and get her a room of her own. The entire family helped to put the room together and finally she had her room. This book has won the Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. This award honor authors and illustrators who create literature that portrays the Mexican American experience. The award was established in 1995 and was named in honor of Dr. Tomas Rivera, a distinguished graduate from Texas State University.
I liked that the book depicts the experience of many immigrant families who sleep in small homes and with many people and many times it is not possible for someone to have their own room because helping out the family is more important. I also liked how the family helped each other to get the room. I think children will enjoy this book because they can relate to the experience that they might have had. Also many students don’t have their own room and they might find possibilities for a room of their own or realize that other children are in the same situation. Even though, the story was truthful I think as a teacher I think that children might feel sadder that they don’t have their own room and that in their house it is impossible to have a room of their own.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 29, 2008
This book is about a mouse that searches for a friend. He finds and rock and grass but they cannot be his friends because they don’t talk to him. He wants a friend so he can tell him his survival stories. He finally finds frog. Frog has a great croak but that is all he does until one day when the Falcon was going to eat frog and the mouse warned him. He decided to be a good listening friend and listen to mouse’s stories. Alma Flor Ada was written numerous books both in English and Spanish. Her books are always colorful and fun for students to read. She has also won many awards with her books. One day as a child, in Cuba, she saw a frog and was in love with frogs since.
I liked how the book was very colorful and easy to read for emerging readers. I did not like the story line maybe for children it would be good but I thought it was too simple of a problem and did not keep me interested. The illustrations were very nice and depicted the nature of the areas where frog and mouse live in a very colorful, bright way. I think students can possibly relate to mouse because he needed a friend and some students might be like mouse looking for a friend to listen to them. Overall, I would not recommend this book as a must have because there are better books out there that deal with survival and friendship.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 29, 2008
This is a beautiful folktale about why the lizards like to be by the sunny hot rocks. The story goes that the sun was not coming out so the animals and people started to look for the sun. They looked every where and began to gave up. The lizard on the other hand did not give up. He finally found a bright rock and the emperor and woodpecker helped him reveal it and it was the sun. The sun was so sleepy and did not wake up. Finally, the emperor decided to have the dancers and musicians entertain the sun. The sun woke up and went up to the sky. From this day on, the lizards always stand on the hot rocks because they remember the lizard finding the sun.
This was a wonderful story that had amazing illustrations and depicted the life of the Aztecs. I really liked how the story addresses the importance of the sun and what we would do without it. I read this story to a group of first graders and they liked it but it was a little lengthily for them. After a while they were not interested and seemed to not be paying attention. On the other hand, they liked thinking about what would happen if we did not have the sun. We discussed how the sun is so important to us because it keeps us warm, feeds the plants and animals, and provides us with light. I recommend this book for any library.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 31, 2008
I loved the pictures in this story they were so different and colorful. I liked the story of a family getting together to celebrate the holiday. I also liked how the family made the best out of the situation. I read this story to a group of 1st grade students and they were getting a little distracted because the story was long and their attention span is short. On the other hand they liked discussing what appliances they would not be able to use if they lost power. We discussed the importance of electricity and how dependent we are to it. The student then made a list of appliances that require electricity because in the time of a black out they would not be able to use them. Overall, it was a simple story with a happy ending that students can enjoy because it is in Spanish and English and with a wonderful theme or family.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 31, 2008
I really enjoyed reading this charming story. It is a wonderful story of someone who stood up for human rights. Cesar Chavez is like the Martin Luther King of migrant workers. Stories like this can inspire children to stand for the right things and to also do it in a peacefully organized manner. The book also illustrates the hardships of migrant workers and of Cesar Chavez. I think students can realize that there is always a struggle but the reward is worth while. In showing the hardships students can see how grateful one can be for the fruits and vegetables in our grocery store because someone worked very hard in the blistering sun to get them to our home. This book is a must have book for any teacher and any grade level.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes May 31, 2008
The book has magnificent pictures of a little girl going to the ocean. The books states that the little girls loves the ocean because she can play, swim, see and the waves, taste the salty water, make sand castles, and overall have a wonderful time by the ocean. The author Pam Munoz Ryan has written over twenty-five books for young children, including Esperanza Rising and Riding Freedom. Pam Muñoz Ryan was born and raised in California's San Joaquin Valley. As a child she loved going to the library in her bike it was her favorite past time. When she graduated from college she was not sure of what she wanted to do so she became a teacher and then an administrator. Later, with the encouragement of her friend who thought she could write, began her first book and she has been writing since. The illustrations on this book are excellent; the scenes of the oceans make you feel as if you were there. The words are also simple for emergent readers. If students have never been to the ocean they can get a good sense of what it is like by reading this book, I think children can relate to enjoying a any body of water even a pool because these are usually associated with good times. The Spanish and English make it a two for one special for any school. Many classroom activities can come from reading this book like writing about going to the beach, vacation, pool, etc. and what events take place there.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes June 1, 2008
This book contains five stories about two hippos who are good friends Jorge y Marta. Each story is about each of them playing trick on each other or getting in trouble. In the first story Jorge does not like Marta’s Chicaron soup so he throws it on the floor Martha sees and confronts him. Finally they agree that she will not make any more soup. In the second story Jorge wants to fly in a hot air balloon but he is too heavy so he gets out and the balloon flies without him. Another story goes that Marta loved looking at herself in the mirror, she always looked at herself until one day Jorge placed an ugly picture of her in the mirror, she got scared and agreed not to look in the mirror again. The last story if of Jorge loosing his favorite tooth and getting it replace by a gold tooth.
The book was funny because I had never read a story about two hippos. The hippos have human characteristics and their adventures are amusing. The story is very old and I don’t know if it would be appealing to students nowadays. The pictures are also not as interesting as the pictures before. I think students can do an interesting activity where they can make their own silly adventure of Marta and Jorge.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes June 2, 2008
This was a very informative pictures provided a variety of houses and their information. The book began stating that people make houses out of many things and then it continued to the history of houses. How at first caves and houses made of wool and bones were used for shelter. The story then travels the world presenting various houses a little information about the type of house and why it is used like that. In each page there is a phrase in that countries language that states “This is my house.” The author and illustrator of this book Arthur Dorros grew up in Florida. In his website he has funny pictures of himself. In one he is eating paper where he says he first at some of his books. He also states that he gets his ideas because he remembers listening to his father’s fictional stories when he was little. Some of his other publications are: Tonight is Carnival, Abuela, Isla, Rainforest Secrets, Magic Secrets, Julio’s Secret, Numero Uno, Alligator Shoes and many more,
It was very interesting to see the different types of houses around the world. I really liked how the climate and the resources really shape these houses. Houses that are made of mud and straw are done this way to maintain cool. Other houses are also set up according to the space provided in the community. I think students will enjoy this book because it has beautiful illustrations and shows places around the world. I also like the ending where he states that there are many different homes but homes are the people that live in the house make the home.
Reviewed by: Lucero Magallanes June 2, 2008